The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are advertising the availability for licensing of either or both of the following two DOE-supported technologies. 

• The Transport Oxy-Combustion (TROC^TM) technology (U.S. Patent No. 8,689,709) is a pressurized oxy-combustion process that inherently controls particulate matter including NOx, SOx and CO₂ without the addition of pollution control equipment. This system combusts coal under pressure in the presence of oxygen, producing a gas stream of mostly CO₂ and H₂O from which heat is recovered into the steam cycle. The proposed license for the TROC technology could be partially exclusive, subject to a license and other rights retained by DOE, and subject to a negotiated royalty.

• The Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG^TM) technology (U.S. Patent Nos. 8,961,629, 9,181,502, and 9,150,800) is an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology that produces electricity with lower emissions than traditional coal power plants. This clean coal technology was jointly developed by Southern Company Services Inc., KBR Inc. (KBR) and DOE/NETL at the National Carbon Capture Center. It was demonstrated at a commercial scale under a major project demonstration partially funded by DOE/NETL at the Kemper County energy facility. Some related Dual-Use technology is also available for licensing. The proposed license for the TRIG technology would be non-exclusive, limited to the field of use of power projects, subject to a license and other rights retained by DOE, and subject to a negotiated royalty.

A prospective applicant/licensee must submit a completed licensing application to demonstrate its financial, technical, and manufacturing capabilities to make, use and sell the above technologies. Licensing applications and other forms may be requested via email to Samantha.zhang@netl.doe.gov.

To the extent not included in the application for license, a prospective licensee must also submit a description of:

• Company history and detailed business plan for commercializing the technology.
• Engineering/project management/commercial resources and related experience.
• Facilities available for design and testing.
• Detailed business plan for commercializing the technology, including description of partners, expected markets and potential customers/sub-licensees, funding sources, expected development schedule and spend plan and surety capability to back up expected performance guarantees.
• Manufacturing plan (in-house or contracted, U.S. or offshore), facilities/capabilities description and experience with similar components/systems.
• Construction/startup/commissioning/operations support capability.

Any licenses granted by DOE will be royalty bearing and will comply with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. Section 209(c) of title 35 of the United States Code gives DOE authority to grant exclusive or partially exclusive licenses in Department-owned inventions where a determination is made, among other things, that the desired practical application of the invention has not been achieved, or is not likely to be achieved expeditiously, under a nonexclusive license. DOE also requires that licensees agree that for use and sale in the United States any products embodying the licensed invention or produced through the use of the licensed invention will be manufactured substantially in the United States. The statute and implementing regulations (37 CFR 404) require that the necessary determinations be made after public notice and opportunity for filing written comments and objections.

For technical information or to obtain specific qualifications, please contact: Dave Lyons, K.Lyons@NETL.DOE.GOV. For licensing information, please contact Samantha Zhang, Samantha.zhang@netl.doe.gov.